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Select Sires is proud to partner with CowManager®, the leading cow monitoring company, to introduce Fertility Insights. New data integration capabilities within the CowManager system accelerate cow fertility insights and have been designed to collect, manage and process the enormous amount of data being created 24/7 about a cow’s fertility status.

With the average herd size increasing, producers are facing more challenges detecting cows in heat and identifying sick cows quickly. Accurate cow health information is essential to their success. CowManager monitors each cow’s condition with great precision, enabling producers to give their cows the attention they need. To provide producers with the most accurate information about a cow’s fertility status, CowManager has created a smart algorithm, which continuously combines fertility data from various management systems that are available worldwide. The data from CowManager’s ear sensors is combined with cow events and alert intervals to create a new set of alerts in the system called, Fertility Insights.

Data is synched continuously and can be configured specifically for every business. Combining cow data gives clear answers about the fertility status of a cow. Is she cycling or cystic? What is her heat interval? Was the insemination successful? Is she still pregnant or has she aborted? Is her uterus clean after calving? All this data can be downloaded in reports, which are easy to use for reproductive management and veterinary checks. A quick overview of all cow data enables producers to make faster and more accurate decisions. It will support producers in selecting for insemination, minimizing pregnancy checks and stress, and save management time.

The pie chart in Figure 1 is based on lactating cows only. The combination of heat detection with Fertility Insights provides producers a total overview of their herd’s reproduction status. For example, the 14 percent fertility issues are being picked up based on a couple of Fertility Insight statuses. It shows that CowManager detects every cow’s fertility status; even when a cow is not coming into heat or when she has aborted.

Koen van Meurs, head of research and development at CowManager, explains, “CowManager is continuously developing ways to improve support systems for producers to enable them to make better business decisions. We listen to the wishes of modern producers who need innovative solutions and insights to overcome the challenges they are faced with. In our 8-week update cycle, we deploy as many requests as possible. Fertility Insights has been available since our last global update in June. Customers already using the fertility module [within the CowManager system] now have access to Fertility Insights. With Fertility Insights, CowManager supports producers in a very practical way, day by day.”

CowManager is distributed by Select Sires Inc. in North America, Select Sires GenerVations in Canada and World Wide Sires in Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Ask your representative for more information, or visit www.selectsires.com.

Based in Plain City, Ohio, Select Sires Inc., is North America's largest A.I. organization and is comprised of nine farmer-owned and -controlled cooperatives. As the industry leader, it provides highly fertile semen as well as excellence in service and programs to achieve its basic objective of supplying dairy and beef producers with North America's best genetics at a reasonable price.